| Lab 7.4.3 IPX routing - Overview Estimated time: 90 min. Objectives: This Lab will focus on your ability to accomplish the following tasks: To become familiar with Novell NetWare IPX protocol and its use in Internetworks To configure the lab routers to route the Novell IPX protocol as well as IP To provide support for NetWare clients and servers which are running IPX Background: In previous labs you have been working with the TCP/IP routed protocol or the Internet Protocol (IP). In this lab you will work with Novell’s Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX) routed protocol. OSI layer 3 protocols such as IP and IPX contain information in their packets to indicate what network the packet came from and what network it is going to. Routable protocols (such as IP and IPX) are those protocols that are capable of allowing packets to be routed between networks and enable them to get from one location to another. Routers can run multiple routing (e.g. RIP or IGRP) and routed (IP and IPX) protocols. In order to be able to route both IP and IPX the router must maintain multiple routing tables, one for each type of routed protocol being supported. Novell's IPX/SPX Implementation IPX is a proprietary routed protocol developed by Novell Inc. for use with its NetWare Network Operating System. It is very widely used with private Local and Wide Area Networks having Novell NetWare servers. Earlier versions of NetWare (3.x and most 4.x versions) used IPX as their primary protocol. In order to support these servers it is necessary to run the IPX protocol on routers, servers and workstations. Newer versions such as NetWare 5.0 can use IP natively. It is possible to have a multi-router Novell network using only the IPX protocol but IP is still required to access the Internet. IPX does not support subnets and cannot be routed over the Internet The Novell network operating system uses 2 main protocols, IPX and SPX, to help ensure delivery of packets. IPX is responsible for layer 3 routing to get packets from one network to another. Sequential Packet Exchange or SPX is a connection oriented packet delivery protocol similar to TCP. There are 2 parts to an IPX address; a network portion and a host portion. The network portion of the IPX address is a 32 bit hexadecimal number and the host portion is the 48-bit MAC address of the NIC (for the server, workstation etc). Since the host or node address is its MAC address, it is not necessary to assign a host address as with IP. ARP is not required since the MAC address is known Tools / Preparation: Prior to starting the lab, the teacher or lab assistant should have the standard router lab with all 5 routers set up. Before beginning this lab you should read the Networking Academy Second Year Companion Guide, Chapter 7 - Novell IPX. You should also review semester 3 On-line Chapter 7. The following is a list of equipment required: Standard Cisco 5-router lab setup with hubs and switches Workstation connected to the router's console port Console Cable (roll-over) Web Site Resources: Routing basics General information on routers 2500 series routers 1600 series routers Terms and acronyms Routing Novell IPX Troubleshooting Novell IPX Novell IPX Commands The following IOS IPX-related commands will help with IPX connectivity information and troubleshooting: IPX Connectivity / Troubleshooting Commands
Show ipx interface | Shows the status of IPX interfaces and IPX configured parameters (frame type) on each interface
Show ipx route | Displays the contents of the IPX routing table with known IPX networks
Show ipx servers | Lists the Novell servers running IPX which are discovered through SAP advertisements
Show ipx traffic | Shows IPX traffic information including the number and type of IPX packets transmitted and received by the router
Debug ipx routing activity | Displays dynamic information about IPX routing update packets that are transmitted and received (every 60 sec.)
Debug ipx sap | Displays dynamic about IPX Service Advertising Protocol (SAP) packets that are transmitted or received
Ping | Use extended version (ping then press enter) to specify an IPX node address.
Step 1 - Determine the Number of Networks Needed. How many IPX networks will you need (LAN and WAN networks) for our 5-router lab? (Refer to the standard 5-router diagram. How many IP networks are there?) Step 2 - Review Proper IPX Addressing. Review the structure of the IPX addressing scheme and answer the following questions: 1) Would 6F be a valid IPX network number? Why or why not? (hint: are IPX network numbers represented in decimal or in Hex?) 2) Would 1a2b3c4d5e be a valid IPX network number? Why or why not ? (hint: how long are IPX network numbers? How many bits? How many hex digits is that?) Step 3 - Enable IPX Routing. Use the following command to enable IPX routing for each router. This enables IPX RIP and SAP. After enabling IPX on the router and while still in IPX configuration mode, go to step 4 and select the interfaces that will route IPX and assign them network numbers. Router(config)# ipx routing Step 4 - Create IPX Network Numbers: Use the standard 5-router diagram as a guide for creating unique network numbers for each "wire" or network. Fill in the table below with the model number of each router and the IPX network addresses you will use. Not all routers will have or use all of the interfaces shown. Remember that serial interfaces between two routers will share the same network number. Hexadecimal IPX network numbers can contain numbers 0 thru 9 and letters A thru F and can range from 1 to FFFFFFFF.
Router Name | Model Number | Ethernet 0 IPX Network | Ethernet 1 IPX Network | Serial 0 IPX Address | Serial 1 IPX Address
Lab-A |  |  |  |  |
Lab-B |  |  |  |  |
Lab-C |  |  |  |  |
Lab-D |  |  |  |  |
Lab-E |  |  |  |  |
Step 5 - Assign IPX Network Numbers to Interfaces. On each interface on each router, configure the IPX network number from the table above: Router(config)# interface E0 (Selects the Ethernet interface E0) Router(config-if)# ipx network A2C (A2C = unique IPX network number) Step 6 - Check for redundant paths. 1) Are there any redundant paths in our lab? That is, are there two or more ways for packets to get from one place to another? 2) If there are redundant paths (2), and you want IPX traffic load sharing over those 2 possible paths, you need to tell the router to accept multiple paths. Complete the command you would use: Router(config)# ipx Step 7 - Check Routing Tables. Since IPX RIP is automatically enabled when you enable IPX routing, you can now check each router's routing table to verify that all routers have learned all of the IPX networks: Router# show ipx route Step 8 - Telnet to a Neighboring router. Telnet to another router and issue a show running-config command to see which interfaces are in use. Use the following command to find the IPX address of one of the Ethernet interfaces. Router# show ipx interface e0 1) What was the IPX address of the interface? 2) What portion is the network address? 3) What portion is the interface MAC address? Step 9 - Ping the Neighboring Router Interface. Return to the router you were on and issue the ping command, remembering to use a dot between the network number and the MAC address, and after every 4 digits of the MAC address. Enter a sample IPX ping command here. Router# ping ipx Step 10 - Reflection: In your journal write about the differences between IPX and IP routing tables.